help running content gatherer

VicS

help running content gatherer

I have instaslled this through IM so it should be installed correctly, can someone tell me how to open it up, is it a script, where is it found

I could not find any directions on it and usually for me things can be pretty complicated to figure out , if there are any tricky parts to knowing how to use will you please let me know, thanks

 

https://www.daz3d.com/content-gatherer

 

MelanieL

I don't own this product, but looking at the ReadMe it is a stand-alone product, i.e. not something you can find inside Daz Studio, I think you just run the program.

The ReadMe is here: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/read_me/index/16287/start

The file list says that the program (and the user manual) should be in your main content library under: /Dimension3D/Content Gatherer/ (windows) or /Dimension3D/Content Gatherer/Gatherer.app (mac)

VicS

Melanie, didnt see the link for the manual when I opened the read me last time, thanks !

 

just checked in content library under dimension-not there though

mindsong

some (standalone) programs (like this one) are easiest to manage by downloading them using your web-based DAZ product manager account/page. It used to help indicate which programs were standalone by searching for "dim::false" in the product manager search bar, but... it looks like that's broken now.

 

anyway - find the content-gatherer in your web-product library after logging in at Daz3d.com and download, unzip, or run the EXE installer. You can then do the 'usual' from there and run the program/tool as you would any windows app.

 

Note that this program is 'smart' in that it looks for and expects to identify your *active* DAZ-Studio 'content libraries' and Poser 'runtimes' in the registry or ini files that the two programs use for their own user-settings history. This behavior is  based on the windows environment and the older standards that drove the early years of these two 3D programs. I've figured out how to fake the paths in some cases to get content-gatherer to 'do the right thing', but I have that trickery info in my notes (not with me). You don't always need it, but if you don't see a dependency listed, this is good information to help you get where you want to go.

 

Because content-gatherer is standalone and lets you read *any* scene-file you have (old or new), the possibility that an old scene file might reference elements (props/figures) that aren't 'visible' to your active/current Poser/DAZ library lists becomes more likely over time (cleanup, content-lib splitting, etc.). Content-gatherer assumes that if some element is mentioned in the scene-file, that it can find that same element using your current list of active content/runtime libraries. Probably fine for most users. Not-so-much for some of us, but you can make it work if you know why it's confused.

 

Another note of interest. If you want to have a *complete* 'gather' as a future library archive - for possible further tweaking down the line, there are case where you must actually *use* any/all sliders in a figure that you want to be gathered - even just a tiny bit (like a 0.000001 of an expression slider) - so that they'll be *registered as being used*, so they can be gathered, since they are needed for the scene. I think this is a feature, not a bug, but it's not obvious at first.

 

I was often confused later on, when many of my sliders and other resources from my 'gather'ed figures and scenes seem to be randomly missing. It wasn't random. If things in my libraries were not active/used in that scene, they were not gathered. Materials, sliders, poses, shapes that aren't used but come with the figure product - not used in the scene (still or animated), not gathered... It also does not save pose-files, since they are applied to a figure to change the pose, but not stored in the scene. Just as if you move the arm, the result was saved, not your actions to get the result.

 

E.G. if you are animating a figure for a current project (maybe a seasonal, that's likely to repeat), and would like to save it do more later with just that isloated figure and scene environment, this tool seems perfect for bundling up that figure with all its goodies.., BUT, if you don't use all of the visemes, expressions, and any other available sliders available to the figure, the content gatherer will not 'gather' those unused elements into the destination gathered archive! This is actually *really* great if you don't want the bloat of a figure , when only uses a small number of shapes/morphs out of a huge library, but it is a bummer if later-on you expected the entire figure/library to be available for additional tweaking, and all you have are the parts that were used in the scene you 'gathered'. In static scenes, you'll be able to reproduce the exact scene with the gathered archive, but further tweaks will be limited. This is especially noticeable in animation projects, where tweaks are (i think) more likely, later on.

 

In the simplest terms, the *only* elements that are saved in a typical DS scene file (efficiently and logically), are those that are *actually present and used* in *that* scene (any props, lights, cameras, ... and the base figure with any *active* sliders). And... *that* is all the standalone content-gatherer program has to work with when it 'gathers' - things it can read from the scene file. It has no idea what other stuff is in your (various) libraries - just what's used in the scene. Again, precise and efficient, but sometimes not what's expected.

 

I love the tool, but only because of lessons learned can I use it well now.

 

good luck, and perhaps there's some more info in these forums on how to be sure it knows about *all* of your content-libs and runtimes that you'll want to draw from - in addition to the active ones. It may be as simple as (temporarily) adding them all to your active DS library (if you have multiple content-libs/runtimes like may of us) so it knows where to look for stuff to gather.

 

For each project I build a distilled content-lib, so my working DS environment is cleaner/faster. When I'm 'playing', I load up all my junk and it's a bit slower and a lot more to play with, and sort through, etc. I have many many content-libs and even have script-tools to help manage them. This wasn't the environment the content-gatherer expects, but it's brilliant at what it does and I use it regularly.

 

Lastly, the program author has passed away, so no enhancements are expected. And... I have no idea how this tool would/will work with anyone using the DAZ Studio 'Connect' network librarian mechanism. I only use DIM (daz install manager) and manual content library manipulation to manage my data. I can't imagine the 'Connect' mechanism being compatible, but perhaps the data/file heirarchy is the same - wherever it's kept. Smarter minds can chime in on that.

best,

--ms

VicS

mindsong

thanks a lot for writing asll thst good i8nfo

Ill try to understand it and write if I couldnt get it

thanks again

NorthOf45

If you installed with DIM, it will be in "Program Files (x86)/Dimension3D/Content Gatherer"

Filter your DIM installs with "Content Gatherer", right-click and "Show Installed Files..." You will see "C:/Program Files (x86)" and two files under that (.pdf and .exe). Click one to open a file explorer window in that folder. Add them to your Start Menu.

One thing to note: Content Gatherer will only look in the libraries defined in the General Release version of Studio. If you have defined other libraries for use with the Beta version, they will not be included. To do so, add them to the General Release configuration of Studio.

barbult

It also doesn't work with items Installed with Daz Connect, if I recall correctly.

VicS

 thanks everybody for the help